The Metropolitan Transportation Authority has signed off on a $28 million contract with engineering firm STV to design upgrades for 22 power facilities that keep New York City's subway trains running, covering 10 substations and 12 circuit breaker houses. The agency's construction arm selected STV to handle general engineering consultant services during the design phase, with the firm overseeing scope development and program management for equipment that STV said had exceeded its intended service life.
According to Railway Track and Structures, MTA Construction & Development selected STV to provide general engineering consultant services during the design phase of the improvements, which span 10 substations and 12 circuit breaker houses across Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx. As Construction Owners reported, the design assignment covers 22 wayside power facilities across Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx, with the program aimed at improving the reliability and resilience of the electrical network that supports subway operations. Engineering News-Record separately reported that the MTA signed the $28 million contract with STV for work touching those same 10 substations and 12 circuit breaker houses serving city transit.
Decades-Old Gear Finally Facing Replacement
STV said much of the existing equipment at these sites is beyond its useful life, per the same Railway Track and Structures report. The planned work includes replacing outdated switchgear, rectifiers, transformers and control systems, along with structural, environmental, mechanical, electrical and plumbing upgrades, and hazardous-materials abatement where required. The design program is also expected to feature energy-efficiency and system resilience improvements intended to reduce unplanned outages and speed recovery from power-related incidents, according to Construction Owners.
Two more forward-looking elements are baked into the design scope. STV will study the feasibility of reversible traction-power systems capable of capturing energy from regenerative braking, the outlet's report notes, and the program also calls for AI-enabled thermal imaging and monitoring technology meant to flag potential equipment failures before they happen.
A System Strained by Aging Infrastructure
The contract lands against a backdrop of mounting concern about the subway's power backbone. In 2025, only 64% of the subway's substations were in a state of good repair, per Engineering News-Record, and the agency's 20-year needs assessment found that roughly 190 substations require renewals or upgrades, with about 300 major components awaiting repair. Engineering News-Record put the subway system's total at 224 substations, underscoring just how sprawling and aging the network has become.
The scale of the problem has already shaped the MTA's broader capital planning. The agency's 2025-2029 capital plan targets full overhauls or component replacements at more than 60 locations and the rehabilitation of 30 circuit breaker houses, according to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. That plan also notes that more than 200 subway and railroad substations were in poor or marginal condition, and that power incidents delay an average of more than 30 trains in the New York City subway system. Subway traction-power projects planned for that five-year window are estimated to cost nearly $3 billion, with 21 substations slated for renewal or reconstruction, per Engineering News-Record.
Other Power Projects Already Underway
STV's design work joins a string of recent MTA power-infrastructure moves. In April, documents became available for a design-build solicitation to relocate the 13kV substation at the Robert F. Kennedy Bridge. In June, the agency put out a separate solicitation for substation replacements at West Hempstead and Winfield, carrying an estimated price tag of $100 million or more. The New York Times has also reported on a newly built $76 million substation under West 28th Street between Eighth and Ninth Avenues, constructed to add power capacity along a stretch of the A, C and E lines.
Under the new contract, STV is expected to have early engineering drawings complete by 2029 to support future construction contracts, Engineering News-Record reported. The firm brings more than 40 years of experience in traction power and wayside power engineering, according to Construction Owners, and has handled substation, circuit breaker house and SCADA system upgrades for transit agencies across North America. Its portfolio includes work on Second Avenue Subway Phase 2, Grand Central Madison, the CATS Lynx Blue Line Extension, the Purple Line Extension's Section 3 stations and tunnels, and the Harrison Place substation design-build project at Coney Island Yard. STV's regional transportation engineering workforce includes nearly 1,000 professionals across the metro New York area, per the outlet.
